North Carolina § 20-140 - 4. Special provisions for motorcycles and mopeds.

§ 20-140. 4. Special provisions for motorcycles and mopeds.

No person shall operate a motorcycle or moped upon a highway or public vehicular area: When the number of persons upon or within such motorcycle or moped, including the operator, shall exceed the number of persons which it was designed to carry. Unless the operator and all passengers thereon wear on their heads, with a retention strap properly secured, safety helmets of a type that complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218. This subdivision shall not apply to an operator of, or any passengers within, an autocycle that has completely enclosed seating or is equipped with a roll bar or roll cage. Violation of any provision of this section shall not be considered negligence per se or contributory negligence per se in any civil action. Any person convicted of violating this section shall have committed an infraction and shall pay a penalty of twenty-five dollars and fifty cents ($25.50) plus the following court costs: the General Court of Justice fee provided for in G.S. 7A-304(a)(4), the telephone facilities fee provided for in G.S. 7A-304(a)(2a), and the law enforcement training and certification fee provided for in G.S. 7A-304(a)(3b). Conviction of an infraction under this section has no other consequence. No drivers license points or insurance surcharge shall be assessed on account of violation of this section. History (1973, c. 1330, s. 6; 1989, c. 711, s. 1; 2007-360, s. 7; 2009-451, s. 15.20(k); 2015-163, s. 11; 2016-90, s. 12.5(b); 2019-227, s. 6(a).) Cross References. - For requirements for helmet use by persons below the age of 16 who are operating a bicycle or are a passenger on a bicycle, see G.S. 20-171.9 . Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2015-163, s. 14, provides, in part: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." Session Laws 2019-227, s. 6(b), provides: "This section is effective October 1, 2019. Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this section are not abated or affected by this section, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this section remain applicable to those prosecutions." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2007-360, s. 7, effective January 1, 2008, rewrote subdivision (a)(2). Session Laws 2015-163, s. 11, effective October 1, 2015, inserted "or within" preceding "such motorcycle" in subdivision (a)(1); and added last sentence of subdivision (a)(2). Session Laws 2016-90, s. 12.5(b), effective July 11, 2016, at the end of the last sentence in subdivision (a)(2), substituted "operator of, or any passengers within, an autocycle that has completely enclosed seating" for "operator of an autocycle or any passengers within an autocycle." Session Laws 2019-227, s. 6(a), effective October 1, 2019, substituted "seating or is equipped with a roll bar or roll cage" for "seating" in subsection (a)(2). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Legal Periodicals. - For note on statutory requirement of safety helmets for motorcyclists, see 6 Wake Forest Intra. L. Rev. 349 (1970).